I have two teens and they like to eat. Food appears - food is gone. In fact sometimes I'm not even sure it appeared before it was gone. Nothing new here. But these teens might also be part alien. Here's where it gets weird -WEIRD food appears - food is gone too!

So, let's talk oysters - not a kid food right? Wrong! I reminisced with kids about awesome oysters and soon family foodie talk turned to oyster-only talk. The next step of course is to go eat awesome oysters somewhere awesome!

French BistroCluny Bistro in Toronto's Historic Distillery District has both foodie and 'awesome' covered. 'Awesome' perfectly describes that old historic ambience, the warm welcome and special attention for my teens, and the focus on making dinner at Cluny's into a fun and unique experience.

French Bistro style decor includes black and white tile, original weathered brick, a wall-full of gilt mirrors, perfect warm lighting. A dream of a kitchen shows chefs creating feasts through giant glass windows. Cluny's oyster bar is, of course, beautiful too - wrought-iron chairs and marble counter circle a mouth-watering display of Belon, Chef's Creek and Acadian Gold, And it wouldn't be a French Bistro without the bread station - fresh baked, still warm, and - if you're not convinced yet, that delicous aroma assures you that Cluny's has got 'French Bistro' covered!

Focus on FoodiesWe reach our table and that's how I know my teens are ready to eat.

Andrew, our host, has other ideas though. Out comes a cutting board, a tea towel, shucking knifes, and a couple of un-shucked oysters. Kids forget their greedy stomachs and are instantly on it - excited to try shucking-before-eating. Andrew's lesson is pure entertainment for two kid-foodies who also happen to be kid-cooks. Forget eating - opening an oyster without loosing a finger was the first item of business. Yay - both completed the task with same ten fingers they started with.

We learned slurping technique, sprinkled a little fresh horshradish, doused liberally with Cluny's fermented hotsauce and savoured those delish little creatures. The verdict? Well, let's just say, family foodie-talk will probably continue to be oyster-only talk for a while!

More 'weird' kid-food on that menu - how could we say no to Ginger-Chili Fried Frog's Legs? I can tell you that we just could not. Those Frog's Legs were gobbled. They were awesome. And they tasted just like chicken - of course - foodie-teens will have to work on their palates!

Copy-cat teens both had Provencal Seafood Stew. Anika declared "BEST SEAFOOD STEW EVER" - no doubt hoping to JInx her poor unsuspecting brother. No go - Adam was enjoying seafood stew too much to compete for a boring old soda!​A Giant DessertYou might think our host Andrew and our awesome server Laura nailed it with our great family dinner event. And you'd be right! But those darn people still had more fun up their sleeves! Instead of bringing dessert to two foodie-teens - why not get them to make it themselves? Anika started in the kitchen with Tip and layered milk chocolate, salted caramel and raspberry sorbet. Teens switched and Adam piled on profiteroles and white cloud cotton candy. Our giant dessert took a half hour to make, and max zero point five seconds to gobble.

An awesome dinner was had by all. I hope future family food events can involve more savouring than gobbleing cause once the food is gone, all you have is memories. Thanks for the memories Cluny Bistro!

For more information: Cluny BistroPlease note, my family dinner at Cluny Bistro was hosted by the restaurant. All opinions however are my own.

The snow keeps falling and a week after Christmas Toronto is still glowing with all the joy of the holiday spirit. Well I'm no Scrooge, but 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' feels more like trudging in the mud to me. 'When it snows' it just ain't thrilling. And if that darn sleigh bell rings, I might just stuff a sock in it! So come on people, the kids are still on holidays, they're getting cranky as all heck, and sending my teens out to 'go play in the snow' barely gets a raised eyebrow.

Problem solved - and thanks to Ripley's Aquarium for covering all my mum requirements for a winter family getaway:

fun and entertaining

educational

somewhere warm - and no sleigh bells ;-)

The teens asked for 'not boring' and Ripley's is the exact opposite of boring, so - check! I also happen to know that they both have a not-so-secret obsession with photography, If they could both take a thousand pics of cool stuff they'd definitly have a 'not boring' time - another check!

So, mums and dads, here's all the goods on why Ripley's Aquarium takes the cake for 'not boring', and why you'll also love a visit to this fascinating underwater world:

Rainbow ReefThink 'weird', think 'beautiful', and think 'very very scary'. More than giant fishtanks, Ripley's Galleries are self-contained oceans beautifully curated for stunning visuals and the mesmerizing flow of sealife going about it's business. Teen' cameras and smartphones came out and our time at Rainbow Reef was well documented - I'm sure all 100 species of fish and every one of those 420,000 litres of water were photographed!

Dangerous LagoonThis time 'snap-happy' describes both kids and sea creatures. The Lagoon is a moving walkway, a ninty-six meter glass tunnel, and 2.9 million litres of ocean, You are within arms length of creatures with big sharp teeth. They might be hungry. We could be food. But, yay - we're not! Kids who would prefer to snap than be snapped are on it with their time-lapse video of this amazing ocean experience. Seventeen sharks, sea turtles, and moray eels glide overhead. Sharp teeth are forgotten and that breathtaking experience makes me grateful to Ripley's for building some ocean in Toronto.

Scarlet Cleaner ShrimpOf course 'hands-on' makes it all more real and my tactile teens loved this part. Anika may have been perfectly happy spending our whole visit at the Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp tank. She dipped her hands, they scuttled over, and when I returned a half hour later she was still there. I had to find out why she couldn't leave. I dipped my hands, they scuttled over - lots of them - I think they were waiting for me - and I knew this Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp party just wouldn't be happening without me ... Anika and I both left with very clean hands :-)

Ray BayHands-on at Ray Bay was less of a party and more like a meditation. Dozen's of Southern and Roughtail stingrays glide on giant wings. Adam's hand rests on the water, and a ray glides across. It does a graceful sweep of the bay and returns for more. Another round, and this time it pokes its' head above the surface - looking for food, and finding a sea creature way of connecting! For my animal-loving son, connecting with a sea 'animal' was unexpected and amazing!

Two teens are begging for more time - after all, they say, this place has sixteen THOUSAND marine animals, five point seven MILLION litres of water, and fifty-seven exhibits!. OF COURSE they didn't really say that, but those mind-boggeling numbers explain the switch from screen-time to marine-time! My two not-at-all-bored teens were 'not-bored' - we've done the 'fun and entertaining' - and now we're all psyched to come back for the educational, another round of that Dangerous Lagoon, Jellies and lots more warm on a cold winter day!​For more information: Ripleys Aquarium of Canada​Thanks to Ripleys Aquarium for photos - see image for reference.

OF COURSE we've been to the Royal Ontario Museum - that's kind of a right of passage of having kids and living in Southern Ontario. Here's how it goes - kids get born, kids get big enough to teeter on two feet, you take them to the ROM and show them the wonders of our world. So yes, been there done that!

Here's a novel idea though. Now I have two teens. Both have studied ancient egypt, dinosaurs and art in school. Both have an understanding of the environmental and ecological challenges that face our planet. And both have spent enough time with mum to know a thing or two about photography, and birds, and First Nations Art and little tidbits of a whole bunch of other stuff. These kids are ready for a revisit for the teen version of the ROM!.

Teen version bonus: the ROM has totally tailored exhibits and galleries to all the stuff we love! I know, we might just fit that typical family profile but I like to think it's personal. Here's what the ROM has for us :-)

Chihuly ExhibitDale Chihuly is an American sculptor and a genius with ice, water, glass and neon. His work has been exhibited in more than 200 museum collections around the world. And now the Royal Ontario Museum introduces us to eleven installations dominated by colour, light and texture. It's been raved about and snapped and shared in droves on social media (topping fourteen thousand images as reported by the ROM). After a visit to Chihuly's, now we can rave and snap and share too!

Teens and I take more pictures than I can count. We rave about our faves. We share. We also hone our low-light photo technique, compare composition, and argue over the challenges of structural integrity. Thanks ROM for knowing our passions and expanding our horizons!

ROM's First Peoples Gallery was a great way to go a step further. Morisseau's beautiful work is given a cultural context. The over one thousand artifacts and thoughtful curation weave a richer story of culture, tradition and history. My son ponders a little and recognizes - our insights today are just another step - another piece of the puzzle. Thanks ROM - now we have more questions - a good problem to have!

James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of DinosaursWonder and fascination come from the weirdest places! I watched Jurassic Park, the movie with my daughter just days ago. About five minutes in the questions were already threatening to derail our movie-watching: 'How can you clone dinosaurs from mosquitos in amber?', 'Can you tell from the dna what the dinosaur will be?', 'How do people know what they looked like', same question for 'what they ate', 'how they sounded', and why the actress stuck her arm in a giant pile of dino-poop?.

Ok, I'm no expert, so the ROM answered at least some of those for me. And for a moment, standing in the shadow of the mighty T Rex, Anika forgot all her other questions and remembered to just stare way, way up in awe. More questions pending!

Gallery of BirdsWith more than one hundred specimens, the ROM's Gallery of Birds is one of the most comprehensive bird collections in Canada. With a major love of birds, a few amazing birding trips, and countless hours watching the bird feeders under our belts, myself and kids were ready for the museum version of birding.

MIghty seabirds with enormous wingspans and colourful tropical birds were a great compliment to the locals we usually encounter. But all those birds in flight takes the cake. It felt like immersion in a flock. You could almost feel the lift of their wings!

So there's more of course - the Bat Cave, the beautiful and heartbreaking Blue Whale Story (opening March 11 2017), the ROM Cafe (yes, my ravenous teens are ravenous teens even at the ROM). Looking forward to the another revisit and thanks to the ROM for knowing exactly what would fascinate and inspire my teens to ask more questions!​_________________For more information: Royal Ontario Museum, Tickets and HoursFind the ROM on Social MediaAll photos by the author except for the last 7 images shown below - courtesy of the ROM